Fear
by GoneLoverMM
Summary: The parents were Gone, and then came the Hunger and the Lies. A Plague came and kids were left shaken. However, the Fear spread like wildfire. It's flames raced through the small community, leaving chaos in its wake. What I think will happen in Fear.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey Guys! Less than a month until FEAR comes out. I can't wait, don't know about you guys! I am absolutely obsessed with the Gone Series. It has kind of taken over my life… I've decided to write a fanfic as my tribute to this absolutely incredible YA series. I have been reviewing some of your stories under the name GoneLoverMM, so I finally made a legit account. Please enjoy and review, constructive criticism is totally welcome. So, I hope you enjoy this first installment. Please read and review, it makes my day. I am also known as HungerGamesLoverMM, so if you love the Hunger Games check out my other stories!**

**-GoneLoverMM**

**Chapter One**

It would be a bit of a stretch to say that life at the lake was pleasant. Bearable was more like it Sam Temple thought as he lay in his bed that night. He could hear Edilio's gentle breathing from the pull out bed a few feet from his own. Sam envied the fact that Edilio could actually get a few hours of sleep in here or there.

Sam had been plagued by nightmares ever since the coming of the FAYZ. A lot of those nightmares featured whatever horror he had seen the day before. E.Z's death still had a starring role in his dreams. The time Drake whipped him was also a regular.

He used to have dreams about losing Astrid too, but those hardly ever came anymore. He hadn't seen Astrid in well over a month. Nobody had. She left without so much as a note or explanation. Sam had waited for her at first. He had stood at the end of the road leading into their little community. He had imagined her face as he gave her a can on Pepsi and a jar full of Nutella, but she never came.

Sam eventually gave up hope and accepted that she wouldn't be coming. To be honest, wondering where she was caused Sam's insomnia. A sharp pang hit him in the chest. Astrid would have used a word like insomnia. She would probably know how to spell it too.

Sam was on a downwards spiral into depression when he stopped himself. He sat up in bed and slapped himself across the face.

"Get a grip on yourself!" Sam said aloud into the darkness.

"What?" Edilio said sleepily, "What's wrong? I'm awake."

Edilio was already standing beside his bed, slinging his machine gun across his shoulder.

"Nothing," Sam said to Edilio, "Go back to sleep."

"Alright." Edilio said not needing to be asked twice.

He was asleep by the time his head hit the pillow. Edilio had spent the entire day digging ditches a few miles from their little base. They had to leave the backhoe in town, so the work was hard and grueling underneath the hot, California sun. If they were even seeing the sun…

Sam fumbled around in the darkness for his shoes and then his jeans. It took some effort, but he finally found them. He passed Dekka, who was sleeping on the couch, on his way out. He stepped off the houseboat and into the cool night air.

The lake was smooth and crystal clear without so much as a breeze rippling across it. It was also quite. There was the distant giggling of kids who had not yet gone to sleep. Sam sighed. He should probably tell them to go to sleep. The last thing he needed was for them to fall asleep on the job tomorrow. Sam let out a deep breath when he realized that that was Albert's problem. He no longer controlled that.

Sam was kind of like a symbolic head of the lake community. He didn't really have any control. Albert ran all of the industry, and kids basically did what they wanted. Sam could only imagine how different it probably was in town. Caine was a dictator. A harsh one at that. He was forcing the kids of Perdido Beach to call him King Caine. Who does that?

Sam couldn't really talk though. Perdido Beach was probably in much better shape now then when he had run it. Back then it had been total chaos. Sam sighed again. It seemed like that was all he did lately. Sigh. What else was there to do when you no longer had a job and your girlfriend was off in the dessert somewhere?

Sam walked down the wooden dock that hovered a few feet above the water. It creaked as he walked. He looked up and saw a shadow sitting at the end. Sam threw a Sammy Sun into the air.

"Who is it?" Sam called to the silhouette.

"Astrid." The voice called.

Sam's heart skipped a beat at the sound of her name, but then he heard the harsh, condescending laugh that could only be Diana's.

"Oh." Sam said. He tried to keep the disappointed tone out of his voice.

Diana fed off of insecurity and awkwardness. It was almost like she had a radar or something. Even Caine was subject to her constant mocking. Caine must be a lot more confident in himself than Sam in order to put up with this girl for how long he did. Sam was about to turn and walk away when Diana called to him.

"You don't have to go." She said, "I'm just here by myself. I won't tell smart-girl Barbie."

Sam wanted to turn away, but for some reason he found his feet moving towards Diana. He sat down beside her, his feet dangling just above the water. Sam turned and looked at her as she stared out at the lake. He had to admit that she was still beautiful. How could you not? You would be just be lying if you said she wasn't. However, this Diana could never compete against the pre-FAYZ Diana.

Sam remembered the first time he had seen Diana when she stepped out of that SUV behind Caine. She had long, chocolate brown hair, huge brown eyes, and the perfect body by any fourteen-year-old guys' standards. The Diana sitting beside him now was very different. Her once long, silky hair was now cut short. It had grown out somewhat, but it kind of had a rusty, dry quality from the starvation. Her huge, brown eyes looked too big where they sat atop sunken cheekbones. Her once curvy body had been reduced to skin and bones.

"Are you going to stop staring at me anytime soon?" Diana said bitingly.

Sam blushed in the darkness. "Sorry." He stammered.

She sighed and we stood there in silence awkwardly. He finally broke it.

"You eating?" Sam asked her. This was now the standard greeting it the FAYZ. It had been for a long time.

"Why yes," She began, "Today in fact I had a whole roasted rat to myself and a half rotten artichoke. Yum." She said sarcastically. "That's really going to keep the baby healthy."

Sam froze up for a sec. He obviously knew that Diana was pregnant. He had known for over a month now, but he had never really heard her acknowledge the fact that she was in deed pregnant. She laughed at his awkwardness.

"Don't be scared Sam. Pregnant girls don't bite." She said matter-of-factly, relishing in my obvious lack of experience with this sort of stuff.

"Uh yeah…" Sam stood up, brushing the small splinters of wood off his jeans, "I'll see you later. You should probably get some sleep." He said to Diana.

She bobbed her head and looked back at the water. Sam was only a few feet away when she called him again.

"Sam?" She said still staring at the lake.

"Yeah?" He responded.

"It's a three bar as of today."

Diana Ladris watched Sam's back as he walked away. She continued staring even after he had disappeared into the darkness. When her butt was finally numb from sitting for so long, she stiffly got to her feet. She stretched out her back and sighed as she heard the bones crack. Then her hands fell to her stomach.

It was still completely flat, almost concave from not eating. How long would it take for that to change? It had been a little over a month since they had moved to the lake. Diana racked her brain for any of the information she had learned in Health class so many months ago. She came up blank. It's not like she actually paid attention anyways.

Eventually word would get out. It was a miracle, Diana thought, that more people didn't already know. Sam had kept his word. It was for Diana's own safety though. If Caine found out – Dian shivered. He was sort of unstable to begin with, who knows what news like this could do to him.

Diana yawned. It was late, probably close to morning. She walked on stiff legs back to the houseboat that she shared with Brianna and Lana when she was in town. She had been for the last couple of days. Diana hated Brianna, the little freak could be so annoying, but she preferred rooming with her to sleeping on the ground. Diana didn't mind the healer, nobody did.

The boat was small, but Diana didn't really care. It's not like she spent much time here. That would probably change though as her stomach expanded. Brianna was asleep, so Diana tried to be as quiet as possible as she climbed into bed. Lana was probably awake, but if she was she didn't make that fact aware.

As Diana was walking over to her bed, she tripped on something and fell. She fell hard on her wrist, and she heard the snap as it bent at an impossible angle. Diana cried out into the darkness.

"Oh crap, it hurts, it hurts!" She said between curses. Diana was glad that she couldn't see it; it would only make her throw up. Keeping food down was hard enough with the morning sickness, she didn't need to lose even more of the precious food in her system.

"Here," Lana said holding out her hand, "Give me your arm."

Diana did so without hesitation. The pain was horrible. Diana, like most kids in the FAYZ, had brittle bones. She couldn't remember the last time she had had an actual milk product. The lack of calcium and other essential nutrients was hard on their small bodies. Brianna had awoken now, and she sat on the floor beside Diana.

The second Lana touched her, the pain started to ebb. Diana exhaled in relief. Lana made a weird sound in the back of her throat.

"What's wrong?" Diana asked.

"I don't know," Lana answered honestly, "Healing you just feels… weird. It kind of feels like I'm doing double the work."

Diana took in a sharp breath. Lana had not yet been told the news. She was a double agent, so to speak, meaning that she commuted between Perdido Beach and the lake community. Therefore she could not be told the news. If Caine somehow got his hands on Lana, he would force her to tell him. Lana would have no choice because Caine wouldn't kill her. She was much too important. Instead, he would torture her until she gave in. Diana shuttered at the thought. Diana was lost inside her own mind when Lana spoke again.

"It seems to get stronger the closer I get to the center of you body."

"Uh…" Diana said, her usual wit and sarcasm betraying her.

"Wait…" Lana said. She gingerly placed her hand right on Diana's stomach and she gasped. "No way…" Lana kind of mumbled under her breath, looking up at Diana with huge, shocked eyes.

Diana looked at Brianna for guidance. Brianna was giving her the same look back.

"You're pregnant!" Lana said.

"Shhhh!" Diana and Brianna both hushed in unison.

Sanjit waited on the dusty, sand coloured hill for her. Every week he would meet her half way so that she wouldn't have to walk all the way back to Perdido Beach by herself. At first she had resisted, refused even, but eventually she had given up. Maybe she finally figured out that he was indomitable. You can't vince the invincible. Sanjit smiled to himself, he always knew that she would eventually give in.

At first Sanjit had wanted to follow her wherever she went and commute back and forth between the small lake community and Perdido Beach. However, his adopted siblings all still lived in Perdido Beach. His "brother" Virtue was now a full time nurse in the makeshift hospital. He said it was because he liked helping people, Sanjit believed that, but he also knew that Choo was crazy about Dahra.

Sanjit finally saw her silhouette in the distance. She was standing by his side within a few moments. Sanjit smiled.

"Hey" Lana said. She looked him over once, "Why are you smiling like an idiot?"

"I'm happy to see you." He answered honestly.

She rolled her eyes and tried to maintain a poker face, but he could see the small smile that crept its way onto her lips. Sanjit could tell that she wasn't quite right though. She seemed off, preoccupied or something.

"What's wrong?" Sanjit asked, his brown eyes full of genuine worry.

Lana's eyes grew large; she was obviously surprised that he had noticed her mood. Most kids were kind of oblivious, but Sanjit was very perceptive. It was how he had survived that rough streets of his former life. You had to be quick and alert. If you weren't then you would never make it on the touch streets of Bangkok.

"Nothing," She answered quickly, "Nothing is wrong. Let's go, we have a long walk ahead of us."

She started walking, but Sanjit grabbed her arm. "No," He said firmly, "Lana, something is wrong. I can tell."

She sighed heavily. Sanjit could actually see the inner conflict as it played across her face. Should she tell? Should she not tell? Eventually her face relaxed. She had made her decision.

"Diana's pregnant…" She said and then continued walking. Sanjit didn't move. He couldn't believe his ears.


	2. Chapter 2

**Alright… Here is chapter two! Please, Please, Please, Review! If you review one of my stories I promise to review one of yours! So there is your incentive.**

**Review and Enjoy,**

**-GoneLoverMM**

**Chapter Two**

Caine Soren sat in the too large chair that had once belonged to the mayor of Perdido Beach. He chewed anxiously at his thumb. He knew that it was a rotten habit, but it wasn't as bad as some of the other habits kids had picked up since the coming of the FAYZ. At least he wasn't addicted to alcohol or smoking bags and bags of pot.

Caine had to remain focused on his job. When he had taken over the job as King of Perdido Beach he knew it wouldn't be easy. He wasn't naïve like his brother, Sam, had been. Caine knew what he was getting himself into. After all, kids were just kids. They were irresponsible, oblivious, and above all disobedient.

Sam had thought that the kids of Perdido Beach would band together and help each other out by picking fruits and vegetables that were rotting in the fields. No one, especially kids, worked for free, and Sam wasn't going to go all laser hands on them. However, Caine was willing to push the boundaries a little more.

He still paid his workers, or Albert did, but fear is what really motivated these kids to work. Caine had made an example of those Human Crew losers, and now kids had a sort of fear-induced respect for him. Nobody had respected Sam.

Caine laughed to himself. His twin brother was sort of a joke among the townies. After all, Sam wasn't a leader. Caine had to admit that he was a fighter, a good one at that, but he could have never run a town as smoothly as he was doing.

Lots had changed since Caine had taken charge. Everybody was eating well was a huge difference. Caine had employed about a dozen older kids as field supervisors. Their sole job was to monitor the younger ones as they worked. Once a week they would have to report their pickings to Albert. If they didn't make their expected weekly pickings, Caine was notified. This definitely increased the kid's motivation.

Another thing Caine changed was the day care system. Sam had been crazy to think that a handful of kids, even responsible ones like Brother John and Mother Mary, could take care of thirty something kids. So Caine created a new system. Every kid over the age of ten was paired with a Little. They were expected to take care of this little kids until they were old enough to live on their own. The system worked, and no one challenged Caine's authority.

A lot of other smaller changes had been made too, and these contributed to Perdido Beach running smoothly. Sometimes Caine liked to bask in what he had created. His brother had run this town into the ground, and somehow Caine had been able to pull it from the ashes, brush it off a bit, and fix it back up again. There was still one thing missing from Caine's life. Diana. His Diana.

It didn't take him long to discover that she had gone with Sam's group to the lake. Figuring out why she did it was a different story. Anger boiled inside of him and he clenched his hands into fist. Suddenly his closed office door bust open and fell of the hinges. Caine almost growled as he flung the door through the wall. It didn't go all the way through, so it sat halfway into the narrow hallway.

Diana's betrayal had cut Caine deep. He wasn't that confident with girl to begin with. What little confidence he had had been severed. He took confidence in the fact that any girl in the FAYZ was dying to be with him, but none of them were the girl for him. Caine made a promise to himself that he would get her back, and nobody disobeyed the King's orders. Not even the King himself.

If Caine was the kind of Perdido Beach, then Albert Hillsborough was literally the Donald Trump of the FAYZ. Albert thought this as he sat in the passenger's seat of a beat up pick up truck. Leah, an eleven-year-old girl he had hired, was driving. Albert had never learned how to drive. What was the point? He had more important things he had to worry about anyways. Leave the driving to the kid who had more free time on their hands.

Albert and Leah were currently heading towards the Lake. The back of the pick up truck was filled with boxes of fresh, handpicked vegetables. Every other week Albert made the trip out to the lake in order to transport the produce. He would live at the lake for a week and then commute back to his other home in Perdido Beach.

Albert didn't mind the trip. He had come to enjoy it. The change of people and scenery was a welcome change. Almost everybody seemed to get on his nerves lately. Albert was glad that Leah was a quite, stoic girl because it gave him time to think without any inane chatter.

Albert enjoyed this new job, even though it carried a lot of stress with it. Albert was like Caine's second in command. This title was rewarding, however disappointing Caine scared the crap out of Albert. Caine wasn't the most reasonable person on a good day, and anything that went wrong would be immediately put on albert.

If running the FAYZ was like running a corporation, Caine would be the CEO and he would be the CFO. Albert handled everything to do with money or planning. After all, it was his 'Bertos that had motivated the kids to work in the first place. However, that's where the analogy stops. Most CEO's don't throw their CFO's through a solid wall if they screw up. Caine very well could do this with ease. Albert tried to comfort himself with the fact that Caine needed him. However, he was sure that if he screwed up enough even that knowledge would be void.

However, Albert didn't mind the pressure of the job. In the past, Albert had liked Sam; he was a great guy, however he had to admit that he preferred working with Caine. Caine had vision and ambition. He knew what he wanted to get done and how he wanted to do it. It was then Albert's job to figure out how to make it all work.

When Albert had worked with Sam, it had been frustrating. Sam had always been all over the map. One second he would be thinking about something and the next second it would be something different. He was scatter brained. Albert knew this, so whenever he commuted to the small lake community he basically took over. Sam was a symbolic head, kind of like the Queen in a Constitutional Monarchy. He had control, but Albert ran the people.

The laws Astrid had created were still in practice. No significant ones had been added or changed. These laws were simple. Kids were simple. That's why they worked.

It was getting dark by the time they had made in to the Lake. A few kids were waiting there when they arrived. The kids helped them unload the produce, and by the time they were done a long line of hungry kids was waiting for their fair share. Albert handed out fairly small handfuls of different fruits and vegetables to each grateful kid.

Albert knew that the kids in Perdido Beach were eating better. It was harder to transfer the food all the way up to the lake. There were no longer any chemicals in their food, and because of this everything went bad at a much faster pace. By the time most of the food got to the Lake it would have already spoiled.

However, unlike the kids in Perdido Beach, the kids living near the lake had a nearly endless supply of water. Albert monitored this too. He had permitted each household 3-4 gallons of water a day. They could do whatever they wanted with it, and it was up to them to purify it.

Albert knew that the notion was kind of silly. The lake was so deep it was nearly bottomless, and it extended for miles, but you can never be too careful. They had all been stupid at the very beginning of the FAYZ. Precious resources and perishable food items had spoiled while they gorged on candy and chips. The very thought of these things delicacies made his stomach snarl almost audibly. Sometimes Albert wanted to kick himself for their stupidity.

After handing out the produce, Albert walked to his own houseboat. Nobody had wanted to share with him. None of the kids really liked Albert. They respected him, but nobody had taken the time to get to know him. He was seen as greedy and self-centered. Albert had to admit that he was. He wanted to be successful and well off. He had accepted that fact early on in his life as businessman of the FAYZ. He had once heard successful people say that it was lonely at the top. Albert finally understood what they meant.

Astrid Ellison diligently packed precious items into her small runners backpack. This backpack literally held her material life within its folds. However, Astrid realized that everything inside of it wasn't really important. She had let everything truly important go.

She had killed her little brother. She had fed her own flesh and blood to those horrible man-eating bugs. She had turned her back on Sam after he had confessed his love to her. What kind of person had she become? There was no possible answer. She was no longer a person. Astrid had become a monster.

She could barely live with herself. More than once she had considered going back to Coates and drinking bottle after bottle of Howard's vial excuse for alcohol. She would eventually drink herself to death or asphyxiate on her own vomit. However, that would be too easy, selfish even.

She didn't deserve to take away her own life. She didn't get to leave her worries behind, and step into whatever awaited her on the other side. She was probably going to hell anyways. No God in his right mind would open his arms to her and accept her into heaven after everything she had done.

Astrid was pretty sure that lying and killing were mortal sins. What kind of Christian was she? People would probably doubt she even read the bible after her behavior. However, Astrid did remember than if she could make up for her sins she could try and beg God for forgiveness. It was to his discretion whether or not he accepted her pleas.

There was only one way to fix this. Astrid had to find a way to make peace with what she had done to her brother. It was this that fact that forced her feet towards that mineshaft. She had heard snippets of what it would be like from Lana, but Astrid knew that it would be ten times worse.

She stood before the door leading down to the shaft. Her breath was ragged, and she was borderline hysteric. She pointed her flashlights beam down at the door, then she heard something move close by.

"Whose there?" She called out into the darkness. She had wanted to sound strong, but her voice had cracked.

"Pack Leader." The coyote said in its tortured, garbled way of speaking. It stepped into the beam of light. This coyote was definitely not the original pack leader, Astrid thought. Pack Leader was dead, so this coyote had taken over the position.

"What do you want?" Astrid said to it.

"Nothing," The coyote began, "Human not go down there."

Astrid was shocked. Was this coyote actually trying to help her out? This was the same species that had killed nearly eighteen kids so many months before.

"Why?" Astrid asked defiantly.

"Human goes down there, Human dies." The coyote said before scurrying off into the darkness.

Astrid wanted so badly to follow that coyote back to town, back to Sam, but she couldn't. She owed it to Little Pete. Astrid took one last shaky breath, steadied the flashlight and stepped down into the mine. She walked until she saw the faint, green glow. She felt it prodding inside her mind. Digging through her most personal thoughts and emotions. Astrid felt violated, but she had no power to stop it. Then she heard its voice in her head.

_You'll do… _


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey! Thanks for all the reviews! They made my day! Here is chapter three, so please read and review again!**

**Review and enjoy,**

**-GoneLoverMM**

**Chapter Three **

Virtue Brattle-Chance was at home with his three little siblings when Sanjit and Lana came home. They all lived in a fairly large house a couple streets over from the town plaza. The family that lived here had probably considered this house nice, but Virtue had lived in the lap of luxury for a long time.

Bowie, Pixie, and Peace ran to the door when they saw who had arrived. All three of them loved Lana as if she were their big sister. They launched themselves into her arms and she hugged them back. Then they moved on to Sanjit.

"Hey guys!" Choo said happily. He liked having all of his family together. It never truly felt like home when they weren't. Lana was a new addition to their adopted family, and Choo would be forever grateful for the way she had helped Bowie.

"Hi." They both said. Their strange, flat answer worried Choo. He looked at Sanjit then. Sanjit was trying to communicate something with his eyes. Now Choo was very worried.

"Bowie, Pixie, Peace," Sanjit addressed the three younger kids, "Why don't you guys go and play."

"No!" They all whined, "We want to see Lana!"

"Its okay guys," Lana began, "I promise to play with you guys later. Let the big kids talk."

The three of them sighed. Peace stuck out her lip, and Pixie took in a breath, ready to protest, but Sanjit silenced them with a hard look. They scurried off quickly then, disappearing upstairs.

"How was the lake?" Choo addressed Lana casually.

"Fine." She bobbed her head once.

"Well… That's good." Choo said, attempting to fill the awkward silence.

"Yup." Sanjit said. They stood there for a few more seconds, staring at each other.

Virtue finally interrupted. "So… are you going to tell me why you two are acting so weird?"

They both exchanged wary glances. He knew that they were never going to spill the beans. Whatever they were hiding must have been pretty huge. Virtue sighed audibly. "Please, Wisdom." He begged.

"Don't call me by my slave name, brother." Sanjit snapped.

"Don't withhold information from me, Sanjit." Choo began, "You said it yourself that we are brothers! What is with the secrecy?"

Choo looked at his brother. He knew that Sanjit wanted to tell; he could see it on his brother's face. Lana could too.

"It's not his fault," She said, "I told him not to tell anybody."

"Why?" Choo asked indignantly.

"Because it would endanger her life if somebody found out!" Lane lowered her voice towards the end.

"I promise to keep it a secret!" Choo help up is right hand and placed his left hand over his heart.

"Okay, okay!" Lana said, "We don't need to swear you in… Put your hands down."

Choo followed her instructions. Sanjit let out a deep breath. "Diana is pregnant."

Virtue was shocked. "How do you know?"

Lana replayed the moment when she had healed Diana's broken wrist. Virtue listened attentively.

"Is it Caine's?" He asked after she had finished.

"Probably," Lana said, "but you can never be too sure."

Virtue took that in. "Well if it is Caine's baby, why would Diana choose to live with Sam at the Lake?"

Diana shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not sure," She said, "Maybe the baby isn't Caine's. I mean, who knows?"

"But whose could it be then?" Choo asked.

Sanjit finally piped up. "Anybody's man, anybody."

They all sat there in silence after that. Weird things happened in the FAYZ, this pregnancy was just the cherry on top.

Bug had been summoned to Caine's office. On his way over, he noticed that the large oak door that had once sat on its frame was now sticking out of the wall, suspended perpendicularly from the ground. Bug was nervous now. This wasn't a good sign. If Bug was one step out of line it could be him halfway through the wall.

Bug didn't know what to do when he arrived. There was no longer any door to knock on, but he didn't want to seem rude by just barging in. So he decided to knock on the wall.

"Come in." Caine called. Bug stepped through the doorframe. "Have a seat." He gestured towards the large chair in front of his desk.

Bug sat down quickly. It felt like he was in the principal's office waiting to receive a detention. It was strange to see that the person on the other side of the desk was a skinny, fifteen-year-old boy.

"I'm sure you can guess why I've brought you here." Caine said as he sat down.

Bug shook his head. He honestly had no idea.

"Well, I'm sure you've heard by now that Diana has gone to live with Sam at the Lake."

Bug bobbed his head. He had heard this.

"Well, I want to know why she left, but I need you help."

"What do you want me to do?" Bug asked warily.

"I want you to do what you do best," Caine said, "Spy."

"Okay," Bug said, "When do you want me to leave?"

"Right now," Caine said.

Bug could feel himself being lifted from the chair he sat in. Caine used his power to guide Bug's body towards the office door. Before Caine put him down though, he looked Bug in the eye.

"This is really important to me," He began, "If you screw this up…" Caine didn't need to finish the sentence. Instead he looked at the door lodged in the wall. Bug got the message. The second Caine set him down he took of running. He would not disappoint Caine.

One of Albert's drivers made the trip to the Lake with Bug. He stopped about a kilometer from the small camp and Bug got out. Caine didn't want anybody to know that Bug was there. After all, knowing that a spy was coming kind of defeated the purpose.

"Thanks." Bug said to the driver. He then slid his hand down the front of his body. He was now completely invisible. It didn't take him long to get to town. The moon sat high in the sky, and provided the only light source other than the spattering of campfires and Sammy Suns.

Kids were still up and about, Bug noticed. In Perdido Beach everybody had a curfew, one of Caine's new rules or proclamations, as he liked to call them. Bug thought the whole idea was ridiculous, but Caine liked to micromanage. However, he always got away with these crazy laws. After all, who was crazy enough to take on Caine? Maybe Sam, but even then…

As he walked, Bug noticed familiar faces. There were about three hundred kids trapped inside the FAYZ, after a while you get to know them. If not by name, then at least by face. He recognized the Breeze and Computer Jack, they were sitting beside a small campfire and both were laughing. Dekka sat on the other side of Computer Jack, just staring at the flames.

Bug continued walking. Caine had given him specific instructions to spy on Diana, but Bug knew that Caine was eaten up with curiosity about his brother, Sam. Bug knew it would get him some browning points if he could get a good morsel about Sam as well.

There was one problem though; Bug had no idea where anybody lived. From what he saw on the way in, there were probably seventy or eighty different tents spread out on the grounds. It would take him forever to find anybody! Bug was trying to figure out a plan when Dekka suddenly got up and stalked off.

"Where are you going?" Brianna asked.

"Back to the boat," Dekka said, "I'm really tired."

"Ok." Brianna said, turning back to Computer Jack.

Dekka also noticed, and she started walking as fast as she could away from the couple. That's when Bug had an idea. He knew that Dekka was Sam's biggest ally after Edilio, so wherever she was he wouldn't be far. Bug began following, but Dekka's legs were much longer than his, so he fell behind quickly. He had to pick up the pace in order to avoid losing her.

It was dark, so he tripped often, but she didn't seem to notice the cracking of dry leaves and twigs. Finally, the trees cleared and Bug could see a dock bleached white in the moonlight. Bug could hear Dekka's quiet sobs, but it wasn't like he was going to comfort her. Who cared if she cried? Bug certainly didn't.

Dekka stopped walking then. She hastily wiped the tears from her eyes, steadied her breathing, and then continued on. A few largish boats were tied to the dock, she made her way towards the largest one and she knocked on the side.

"Edilio, Sam!" She called, "Let me in."

So this was where Sam lived! Bug could see Edilio's shadow in the doorway, and then Dekka disappeared inside the boat. Bug followed closer, wanting to hear tidbits of conversation. Bug cautiously placed his ear against the side of the boat, trying to be as careful as possible. He didn't want to make any noise and raise their suspicion.

"Where's Sam?" He heard Dekka ask.

"He said that he was going to check on Diana." Edilio said sleepily, "She broke her wrist last night. Lana already healed it, but he still wanted to check on her himself."

"Oh." Dekka said. She sniffled then, Edilio probably couldn't see her tear stroked face in the darkness, but he definitely heard the sniffle.

"You okay?" He asked concernedly.

"Yeah," She said, "I'm just going to go to bed."

"Yeah, Same." Edilio said dropping the issue.

It was silent within a few minutes. Bug crept noiselessly from the dock. It was eerily quite, but then Bug heard two voices. One was definitely a guy's, the other could have been a girl's, but Bug wasn't sure. Then he saw an unmistakable Sammy Sun appear. Bug had found at least one of his targets.

Diana was surprised to see Sam standing outside of her floating home.

"Uh hey," He said as he stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "How's your wrist?"

Diana was kind of confused at first. Sam had come just to check on her wrist? "Fine." She answered honestly. It was completely fine now that Lana had healed it.

"Brianna told me about what had happened with Lana." Sam said.

"Oh." Diana said. Of course she had.

"You know what this means, right?" Sam said looking up at Diana.

Diana shrugged her shoulders.

"It means that more people know." Sam's tone was urgent but not unkind.

"Lana wouldn't tell anybody." Diana came to the defense of the healer.

"As if she wouldn't tell Sanjit." Sam said.

Diana took that in. Of course she would tell Sanjit. Then Sanjit would tell his adopted brother Virtue. It was a chain reaction from there. How long before the whole town knew? How long before Caine knew? Diana froze up with fear. What would he do? The baby's power was already growing. Every single day it grew stronger. How long before it was a four bar? Five bar? Six bar? What then?

"What do we do?" Diana asked Sam. Her brown eyes growing larger as she waited for his answer.

"I don't know…" Sam answered honestly. "They are all going to notice in a few months."

Suddenly Diana was boiling hot. She needed to get off this boat. "Come with me." She ordered Sam.

He followed her as she made her way off the boat and onto the beach. She flopped down into the sand and he followed her lead. They both sat in silence for several moments before Sam spoke.

"I don't know what we are going to do," He began, "But I will promise you something. My brother will never hurt you or my nephew or niece. I won't let him touch either of you."

Diana was taken aback by his sudden intensity. No one had ever been to genuinely concerned for her. She had once thought that Caine was, but he had just used her. This baby was Sam's blood though, just like it was Diana's. Diana knew that Sam was fiercely loyal. She respected that.

"Thank you Sam." Diana said genuinely. She picked up his hand then and placed it on her stomach. "We both thank you."

Bug had watched the whole scene. He had heard every word clear as day. Diana was pregnant. Caine was the father. The baby was already a freak, a powerful one at that. Its powers were growing every day. Bug wondered how Caine would react. He was kind of unpredictable as it was. What he would do? Only time would tell…


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey! Thanks for all the reviews! They made my day! Here is chapter four, so please read and review again! I forgot to include this… I obviously do not own Gone, Michael Grant does. It would be awesome if I did, but I cannot take credit for his amazing writing!**

**Review and enjoy,**

**-GoneLoverMM**

**Chapter Four**

Astrid had collapsed on the floor of the cave. The gaiaphage beckoned to her then.

_Come._

It called to her.

_I am in need of you._

Astrid could not refuse its' orders. So she crawled on hands and knees towards it. Astrid had never seen the gaiaphage before. In her head she had imagined – well she didn't know what she imagined. An alien maybe? The gaiaphage looked like millions of pulsating, neon green, lights that somehow held its form. It reminded her of the diagrams of atoms she had seen in her science textbook.

When Astrid was closer it called to her again.

_Hold your hands against me. _

"No." Astrid said aloud. Her weak attempt was futile though. Icy splinters of pain raced through her skull. Her blood-curdling screams rang throughout the cave. "Okay, okay!" She sobbed as she rested her hands against its moving surface.

_Noooooo_

The gaiaphage roared.

_You are not as pure as I thought. _

Astrid's breath caught in her throat.

_You are like two half's of one whole. You are neither good nor evil. Your blood is polluted. You have seen too much, done too much evil. _

Astrid took in a breath, preparing herself. "Then let go of my brother. He is very pure. He has never done anything to harm anyone."

The gaiaphage barked a laugh.

_His goodness is of no concern to me. He is powerful. The most powerful being I have ever seen. He is nemesis. You are useless. _

That statement cut deep. It seemed petty considering the circumstances, but Astrid couldn't shake it. She had always felt sort of useless since the coming of the FAYZ. Sure, she had her brain, but she could never truly help Sam. She had left him alone in a losing battle. Astrid's self preservation instincts kicked in at that moment. If she couldn't save her brother, then she would save herself.

"Let me go then." Astrid demanded. "You said it yourself that I am useless."

_I actually do have use for you. You need to bring me the dark and the light. The two half's of one whole. The blood sharers. _

Astrid was quick to understand. This monster wanted her to bring him Sam and Caine. However, she would never follow through. She would never bring them here. Caine had already been so he knew of its' horrors. Sam though – he had no idea. The gaiaphage must have heart her thoughts. She felt the pain then. The icy splinters tore through her brain, leaving icy pain in their wake.

_You will not disobey me. I am the darkness. You are weak. You are human. _

"Okay, okay!" Astrid screamed. "What do I have to do?"

_You must bring me the blood sharers. If they sacrifice their lives and surrender their powers, I will give you back nemesis. _

"And if I don't?" Astrid called.

_Drake _

The gaiaphage called.

"No! No! No!" Astrid screamed. She squinted into the darkness, searching for his face. "Please, Please, No!" She sobbed.

That's when she saw him. His face was illuminated by the ghastly, green glow. He was smiling sinisterly. Astrid remembered that smile. It was the smile he had been wearing when he had told Astrid to call her brother a retard. It was the smile he had worn when he had tried to shoot her on the balcony. Astrid had never been more afraid in her life.

_Drake show her what will happen if she disobeys me. _

He walked over to her then and raised his blood red, whip arm. She closed her eyes and tried to protect her head. She heard the whip whistle through the air. She felt the burn as it licked her back. He raised his arm again and again.

_Stop Drake. She needs to be able to do her job. _

The darkness said to a sniveling Astrid.

_Now go. I'll be watching. The darkness now covers everything. No more light will shine until you bring me the blood sharers. Only the Pure Light can save you all. _

Astrid forced her aching body to stand up, not fully comprehending what had just been said. She unsteadily made her way towards the cave opening. The pain was intolerable. Astrid was crying and bloody dripped down her back. She collapsed outside the mouth of the cave. She lay there until she lost consciousness.

Edilio Escobar woke up, but it was still dark outside. He thought that it was weird because he still felt well rested. He rose from his bed. Sam was sleeping fitfully, and Dekka was right out. Edilio walked outside. It was pitch dark, without even the light from the moon.

This was weird. Every single night since the coming of the FAYZ the moon had shone. It was a given. Something definitely felt wrong. Edilio didn't want to, but he had to wake up Sam. He walked back into the houseboat and to Sam's bedside.

"Sam!" He called to the sleeping boy. "You need to wake up man!"

"Whaaa…" Sam said still half asleep.

"Dude, you need to wake up, now!" Edilio said urgently.

"Okay, okay, I'm up." Sam said as he slid out of bed. "What craziness now? Is something burning? Is someone dieing?"

"Come see for yourself, man." Edilio said as he led Sam out onto the dock.

They stood then in silence for a moment.

"What's wrong?" Sam asked. "I don't see anything…"

"It's dark, man." Edilio stated.

"Yeah so," Sam shrugged, "Shouldn't it be? It's the middle of the night."

"I don't think it is dude." Edilio said. "Look at the sky. Where is the moon?"

Sam took that in. "I don't know man," He said, "I think we should wait a bit before we freak out."

"Yeah okay." Edilio agreed.

So they waited. Dekka joined them after a while. Same with Diana and Brianna, but the sky did not lighten. They waited for hours, but the sky still remained dark. Something was definitely wrong.

"What do we do now?" Edilio asked.

"I don't know," Sam answered honestly. "It's just the FAYZ man. It's just the FAYZ."

Howard had been a mess ever since Orc had disappeared. It always seemed like Howard had been using Orc to get himself ahead. At first it was exactly that. However, Howard had really developed a liking for the gravel-covered monster. He would call the kid his best friend.

He knew that Orc was off in the dessert somewhere. Where exactly? He had no idea. However, he had to look. He couldn't leave his best friend to fend for himself! After all, Orc had never been the sharpest tool in the shed. He was loyal though. Howard respected that. That's why he had to be loyal to his friend and help him out.

The last time Howard had found Orc off in the desert somewhere, it had been outside of that creepy cave. Howard remembered the creepy, old mining town. He shivered involuntarily at the memory. He didn't want to go on foot again, so he had bribed one of Albert's drivers with a bottle of his alcohol.

She had accepted, and now they were both heading towards the mineshaft in a dirty, red pickup truck. It was dark outside, and no moon was shining. Howard thought that that was weird, but he didn't really give it much thought. A moonless sky was the least of his problems.

It didn't take long for them to arrive at sleepy, deserted town. The driver had driven like a madwoman, so they had made it there in record time. Howard got out of the car, and walked a few feet on the path. He was only a few feet from the mouth of the cave when he heard a moan.

"Hello?" He called in the darkness. "Anybody there?"

He heard the moan again. It was coming from in front of him. He wanted to bolt, run away like a bat out of hell, but what if it was Orc? What if he needed help? Howard summed up the courage then and continued forward. As he got closer, he could see a figure lying in the dirt. The figure was small, much to small to be Orc, but it was definitely a kid.

Howard was right in front of the body now. He bent down and turned the kid over. He gasped. It was Astrid. She was a mess. Her long, blonde hair was filthy and tangled. Her whitish blouse was stained red, and her back looked like a slab of meat. She was unconscious, but she was alive.

Howard called to the driver. "Man, you have to help me! Bring her back to town, she has to see Lana!"

The driver was there quickly, and both boys carried Astrid's limp body back to the pick up truck. They laid her town in the bed. She was slowly gaining her consciousness.

"It burns…" She mumbled. "Help me! Help me! It burns!"

"It's okay, Astrid!" Howard called. "We are bringing you to Lana!"

"No!" She said. "Bring me to Sam! I need to protect him."

"Uh… okay." Howard said.

He would take her to Sam, but first she would see Lana. That was not an option.

It was still dark when Bug arrived back at Perdido Beach. He had caught a ride with one of the gas drivers. The entire ride Bug had been trying to figure out a way to break the news to Caine. There was no way to do it. He would get upset no matter what. Who knew what he would do then! Bug prayed to God that he wouldn't be the one halfway through the wall.

Bug was more nervous than he had ever been as he made his way up the stairs of town hall. He could no longer hold down his dinner. He leaned over the stair-rail and threw up into the bushes. Having nothing in his stomach didn't really help the queasiness.

Bug knocked on the wall like had had last time. He noticed that the door had been propped against the wall. It no longer hung vertically.

"Come in." Caine called.

Bug did as he was told. He sat down in the chair across from Caine's desk just as he had last time. Bug looked Caine over. He didn't appear to be angry. He looked relaxed. This in turn allowed Bug to relax a little.

"So Bug," Caine smiled that winning smile of his, "What did you get from the Lake?"

Bug decided to start lightly. "Uh… It seems kind of disorganized," Bug began, "But everybody is eating and drinking."

"Okay," Caine said, "Anything else?"

"Diana is there." Bug watched Caine closely.

"And?" Caine prompted.

All of the humour had left his eyes. Now he looked cold, reserved. This only intensified Bug's nerves. He wanted to throw up all over again.

"She is okay." Bug answered meekly, "She is living on a house boat with Brianna."

Caine laughed aloud. "Really!"

Bug bobbed his head.

Caine laughed again. "I really must have done a lot for her to do that. Diana cannot stand Brianna."

"Yeah, I guess." Bug responded.

Caine observed him closely for a minute. Bug tried to slow his breathing, to try and appear less nervous. Caine saw straight through his weak attempt.

"No tell me Bug," Caine stuck his thumb in his mouth, "You respect me, right?"

Bug nodded tightly.

"Then why are you withholding information? Especially information about my girl, are you afraid of my reaction?"

"Kind of…" Bug answered honestly.

"Well Bug, I don't think you want to know what will happen to you if I have to go to the Lake and find whatever this secret is myself."

Bug obviously heard the threat in his words. Basically if he didn't tell Caine about Diana, he wouldn't be telling anybody anything ever. Bug took a deep breath. Now or never.

"Diana is healthy." Bug said.

"And what else?" Caine said crossing his arms over his chest.

"And she is also pregnant, with your baby."

Bug barely had time to close his eyes before he felt himself flying through the air.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey! Thanks for all the reviews! They made my day! Here is chapter five. A reviewer recently let me know that it was hard to distinguish character breaks! I wasn't aware of this, so from now on I am going to say what characters POV it is from. Sorry about that, and thanks for letting me know!**

**Review and enjoy,**

**-GoneLoverMM**

**Chapter Five**

**Caine **

Bug screamed like a little girl when Caine threw him. Caine laughed to himself, as if he would let Bug die. He only had to make him think that. A second before Bug hit the wall, Caine used his power to sort of catch him. Bug opened his eyes that had been shut tight a moment earlier.

"How do you know this?" Caine said each word slowly as if he were talking to a small child or someone who doesn't speak English.

"I heard her say it." Bug said.

Caine forced him closer to the wall.

"Bug don't be an idiot. You know what I want you to say. Now tell me Bug, was Diana just talking to herself?"

"No." Bug stammered and Caine tightened his hold around Bug's neck.

"Then who was she talking to?" Caine had lost all of his patience for the day.

"Sam!" Bug gasped, "She was talking to Sam!"

Caine let Bug drop. He fell the short distance to the floor where he lay gasping and quivering all over.

"What did she say? How did she say it?"

Caine still didn't completely believe the little worm. It wouldn't be the first time he was wrong. What if the little traitor had switched sides and was just playing a cruel joke on him? No, Caine thought to himself, he would never do that. A practical joke was not worth his life. He must be telling the truth, or he could have misunderstood. He must have misunderstood!

"Sam said that he would protect his nephew or niece, from you…" Bug didn't dare look into Caine's eyes, and Caine didn't look at Bug.

He thought about that for a moment. "Why would he need to protect my child?" Caine asked not fully understanding. The whole concept seemed strange.

"I don't know," Bug answered honestly, "Diana was really scared though, and she said something about powers…"

In an instant Caine was hovering over Bug, pinning him to the ground. "The child has powers!" Caine spat in Bug's face.

"I-I-I think so," Bug stammered, "She thinks it does, at least."

Caine lessened his hold. "What was she scared of?" Caine asked, softer now.

"You, I think." Bug said, "She's scared of what you'll do."

Caine took that in. Diana? Scared of him… He didn't know what to think. Caine had always thought that she was afraid of his powers. He must have guessed wrong. That's why she had gone to the lake! She was scared of him… and what he might do to their unborn child.

Caine couldn't believe it. His queen had run off, fled town, because she was scared of him. She wanted to protect their unborn child, his heir. Every king had an heir after all. For a moment, Caine found himself daydreaming about the unborn child and about Diana. However, it didn't take long for him to get angry.

That child was just as much his as it was hers. He had just as much right to it as he did. How dare she take off without so much as telling him! He had to find out that his girl was pregnant with his child, second hand from some loser freak. It wasn't right; nobody treated the king like that! Not even his queen.

"Bug," Caine addressed the little weasel, "Bring my queen to me, I must speak to her."

"I'm not sure if she will come." Bug whispered.

"What did you say?" Caine used more force. It must have felt like a load of bricks was sitting on his chest.

"I said that I'm not sure if she will come!" Bug said louder.

"Why wouldn't she come?" Caine asked in disbelief.

Bug shrugged his shoulders. "You know her better than I do. Do you think that she would really come to you? She never has before."

Caine slapped him across the face, hard. "Go," He commanded, "Now!"

Bug scurried off like the little cockroach he was. Caine's ego was bruised. Of course she wouldn't come to him. That's when it hit him. If his queen wouldn't come to him, then he would go to her. Now all he had to do was find a driver…

**Astrid**

It was dark when Astrid woke up. A flurry of activity was going on in the room around her. Several faces looked down on her, but she couldn't really focus on any.

"She's waking up! She's waking up!" Astrid heard someone yell, but she couldn't pinpoint the exact voice. It kind of sounded like she was listening to them through a tunnel. The voices sounded far away. She opened her eyes wider and saw a dark haired girl hovering over her. The girl's hand was touching her shoulder.

"Are you an angel?" Astrid asked. Her mouth felt thick, and her tongue heavy.

"Astrid, It's Lana…" The voice said. Astrid recognized that voice now. Of course it was Lana, Lana the healer. She was touching Astrid, this meant that she had been harmed, but by what? That's when Astrid remembered, the whip. Drake's whip as it had struck her again and again. Astrid whimpered. She saw another face then, heard another voice.

"Astrid, it's Dahra." The voice said, "You are going to be okay!"

Astrid believed her. The pain she had felt was dulling quickly, to the point where she barely felt anything. This relived her. Astrid had a very low pain tolerance.

"I'm so thirsty." Astrid croaked.

"Here," Dahra said bringing a cup to her lips, "Drink this, you'll feel better."

Once Astrid had drunk, Lana asked her a question. "So what exactly where you doing by that mine shaft?"

Astrid shivered. "You don't want to know!"

Lana laughed a short, hard laugh. "You're right, that's why they call you the genius."

Astrid sighed, and then sat up. The room swirled, but eventually settled. She was going to be okay. "Thanks," She addressed both girl, "I wouldn't be here without you guys."

"No problem," Lana said, "It's kind of my job, or at least what Albert pays me for.

The three girls shared a laugh. The laugh died, and then they sat in silence. Lana healed her, and Dahra attended to her two other patients. The two other kids had mild stomach viruses; Dahra said it had been going on for days. She hadn't seen the sunlight for at least three.

"What about you, Lana?"' Astrid asked, "When was the last time you went outside?"

"Well I walked here yesterday, and that was that." Lana said.

"I think I'm good now," Astrid said and Lana's hand fell.

Astrid tested everything out. She stretched her fingers, wiggled her toes, and stretched her back. She felt no pain, none at all.

"Well," Astrid began, "I guess I will be going now."

"Why don't you go to?" Dahra addressed Lana, "These two seem to be on the mend."

"Alright," Lana agreed not needing to be asked twice, "You make sure that you see the light of day sometime."

Dahra laughed. "Duty calls," She joked, "Again, and again, and again!"

The girls laughed again. Lana and Astrid made their way up the church steps and stepped outside.

"It's dark." Lana said, "I guess I lost track of time down there."

"Yeah." Astrid had no idea what time it was, or how long she had been out. She did know what she had to do though. "I have to go find Sam."

"Catch you later then." Lana waved her off.

"Thanks!" Astrid called, but Lana didn't respond. Lana had grown tired of people's near reverential awe for her. She barely responded to people's thanks anymore. Instead she just gave them a bob of the head. It was her way of telling them that she had heard.

Astrid walked in the darkness until she heard a truck firing up. It lumbered down the road towards her and she jumped into the pick-up trucks bed. The driver and passenger didn't notice that they had a hitchhiker. Astrid lay flat and looked up at the star-filled sky. Soon enough she would be with Sam.

**Sam**

Sam had accepted that it was just going to be dark. No more light would shine in the FAYZ until someone could figure out what had happened. Albert was probably already trying to, and maybe Caine was with him. Sam thought of one person that would be able to help. Astrid. However, that person was off in the dessert somewhere.

Once the discovery had been made, nobody left each other's side other than to use the washroom or get water. Sam, Edilio, Brianna, Computer Jack, Dekka, Toto, and even Diana had formed a sort of family at the lake. In hard times you needed family. You needed people, people who you would trust, with your life even. Sam trusted these people. Maybe not Diana, but even she was growing on him.

There was nothing they could do now but go about their daily lives. This new crazy would eventually run its course and they would figure out a way to make it go away. Then they would wait for the next wave of crazy. It was kind of like the flu. It came every year, rain or shine, but every year it was sort of different. It changed, adapted.

"I should probably call a community meeting." Sam said to the little group. "The other kids will be just as worried as we are."

"Yeah, you should." Edilio agreed, "I'll go sound the horn."

Sam nodded to him, and Edilio got up. One of the boats they had found had a horn on it. Back in the day it must have been used to signal other ships, but now it made the perfect summoning tool. Edilio sounded the horn and within a few minutes kids started to show up.

Some were crying others shouting out questions that Sam didn't have answers to. He could handle the crying kids, but the question askers were the worse. He hated not having the answers. He was just as lost and confused as he was. It kind of felt like that first day all over again. Kids had been asking him what to do, and he didn't know. Sam was, once again, powerless to the FAYZ.

Once a sufficient amount of kids arrived, Sam started the meeting. It wasn't official or anything, there wasn't protocol or reading of the minutes, he just sort of talked.

"Hey," He said to the group of kids. A hush fell over the crowd and he continued. "So I'm sure that most of you have noticed that it is dark, that the sun is no longer shining."

It was very quite, Sam noticed, but then he heard one long wail within the crowd. He couldn't pinpoint the kid it was coming from, so he continued on. "I know it seems kind of scary, but we just have to wait it out."

"When will the sun come out? I'm scared of the dark!" A kid cried.

"I don't know little man," Sam answered honestly, "But I do know that we can make it through this. Look at how much we've made it through already. I know we can do this, just hang on."

The group in front of him didn't cheer like they did in movies. They didn't all run up and try to surf him through the crowd while they cheered his name. Instead they just kind of stared at him like zombies. Most of the kids were kind of like zombies. They just shuffled through their days, counting down the days till they turned fifteen and were given the option to poof.

Sam was looking at all of their tired faces when he saw someone he never expected to see again. Her golden blonde hair was matted, and her clothes were dirty and torn, but she was still beautiful.

"Astrid!" Sam said and she smiled. The crowd of kids all turned to stare at her. Whispers ran through the crowd.

"I hear she killed her brother!" Whispered a voice.

"I hear she has mad powers and took on Drake!" Said another.

"I hear…"

The theories came from many mouths, each more disturbing than the last.

"Go," Sam said to the kids, "You are dismissed, now go!"

The crowd of grumbling kids left. Then it was only him and Astrid.

"Astrid." He said.

"Sam." She responded.

Sam ran to her then. He picked her up and spun her around. Had she always been so skinny?

"Is it really you?" He asked in disbelief.

"It is Sam, it really is!" She had tears in her eyes.

Sam kissed her then, he couldn't help himself, and she kissed him back. He pulled away first, smiling crazily at her. He looked at her as if he was a blind man seeing the light. He stared into her crystal blue eyes. He was still staring at them when they changed. They changed so quickly, he could have been wrong; it could have been a trick of light or something. However, for a brief second Astrid's eyes glowed neon green before reverting back to their original blue.

"Let's go to the dock!" Astrid said then.

"Okay!" Sam said as he followed her. He looked her over. She seemed normal, but he couldn't shake what he had seen. Maybe he was the one going crazy…


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey! Thanks for all the reviews! They made my day! Here is chapter six. **

**Review and enjoy,**

**-GoneLoverMM**

**Chapter Six**

**Diana**

Diana tried to look at herself in the mirror. It was very dark, making the task nearly impossible. The only light in the room was coming from the small Sammy Sun in the corner. The little sun cast a sort of ominous, green glow over the entire room. It was creepy to say the least.

Diana couldn't really make out her facial features, but she could definitely see the small bump where it strained against the fabric of her shirt. _Weird, _Diana thought, yesterday her stomach had still been completely flat, and today it was definitely not. However, she was no expert on these things, so maybe that was just how it happened.

She shrugged, whatever, there was nothing she could do about it. She wasn't a doctor, and she definitely wasn't Lana. Diana was still staring at herself in the mirror when she heard a knock on the door.

"Come in!" Diana shouted. She tore herself away from her reflection. It was only making her upset.

Edilio opened the door and popped his head in.

"Hey," Diana said as she ran a brush through her bob length hair, "What can I do for you?"

Edilio didn't even greet her, instead he just jumped right to the chase. "You might want to hide."

"Why?" Diana asked, confused.

"He's here, and he is looking for you." Edilio said.

Diana's heart rate picked up, and she took a deep breath. She tried to slow down the frantic beating of her heart, but she failed. What was she going to do? Hide under the bed? If he found her, which she was sure he would, he would only be angrier. Diana had a plan that might work. She felt bold.

"Send him in then," Diana said to Edilio, "It's not like he knows the truth. Maybe he missed me and just came to visit."

Diana laughed a cold, hard laugh. Caine might say that he missed her. This was probably true. However, he probably didn't miss Diana's sunny personality. He just missed what she could give him. Diana's laugh cut off suddenly, it would only have been a matter of seconds until that laugh turned into sobs. She swallowed them back though because Diana could not show weakness. Not in front of him.

"Are you sure?" Edilio asked warily.

"Yes, If you wouldn't mind." Diana said politely.

"Uh okay." Edilio said, shutting the door on his way out.

He probably thought that she was a madwoman. Maybe she was, Diana thought. Diana went and changed her shirt. The tank top she had been wearing was tight, too tight. Caine would have known right away. She changed into a looser cut top. Diana had never really owned anything baggy. When you had a body like she did you didn't really want to cover it up with over-sized clothes. Diana could have slapped her old self. She would probably appreciate a few baggy t-shirts as her stomach expanded.

Only a few minutes had passed when she heart another knock on the door.

"Who is it?" She called even though she knew who it was.

"It's Caine." Said a strained voice on the other side of the door.

"Caine who?" Diana said. She probably shouldn't play with him, but she couldn't help herself. It was a habit.

"Would you just let me in," Caine said obviously annoyed, "Please." He threw in at the end.

Diana sighed. "It's open." She yelled.

She heard the sound of the door opening, but she didn't turn. She was doing this meeting on her terms, not his. He had controlled her for a few years now, and enough was enough.

"Hello." He said awkwardly.

"Hi." Diana said, giving him nothing.

"How are y—" Caine began, but Diana cut him off.

"Do you just want to cut the crap and get on with what you want to say, thanks." Diana snapped. She hadn't been in a good mood all day, and this definitely wasn't helping matters. Diana turned around then and gave him a once over. The once over was long enough to make him feel uncomfortable. She saved his eyes for last. His piercing green eyes held fury, but behind that fury there was something else. Sympathy maybe? An actual god forsaken human emotion? Impossible, Diana thought. Caine was unable to feel such emotions.

"Are you going to ask me something, or did you just come here to stare at me? If so take a picture, it will last longer."

Diana couldn't help the snarky comments. They just kept coming. Diana looked at Caine again. He was angry, she could tell. If any other person were to have said that to Caine, he would have probably sent them flying. However, he would never do something like that to Diana. Sure he would threaten, but he would never follow through.

"I've been hearing some rumors." Caine said.

"Really," Diana began, "From who? Your friend the gaiaphage?"

Caine flinched, but he didn't waver. "No actually," He said, "I've sent Bug up here a couple of times. As you know, he makes a very good spy."

"You sent that little troll to spy on me?" Diana spat indignantly.

"Yes," Caine said as a smile crept onto his lips, "Or should I say both of you?"

Diana's breath caught in her throat. He knows! Of course he knows… A long silence followed as Diana tried to collect her scattered thoughts.

"I'm taking your silence for a yes." Caine said confidently, mustering up some of that old charm.

"And if it were true," Diana began, "Whose saying the baby is yours'?"

That caught him off guard. It gave Diana a moment to regroup.

"Oh please," She could tell his confidence was breaking, but he still continued. "As if any of the guys up here would be so stupid. They know that you are mine."

"You do not own me, Caine." Diana spat each word angrily. "You forgot about Sam, he could take you. What if the baby is his?"

Caine looked at her then and she froze. She had always thought that Caine was handsome. His dark hair and green eyes had always attracted him to her. Then his power and charm had done the rest. They had been inseparable. Diana wasn't sure when it had turned into love, but it had. She had to admit that she loved him, she always would, but right now she was confused. He wasn't a good person, but if he wasn't the right guy, who was? Diana wasn't exactly winning any awards for her behavior anyways.

"It's not Sam's." Caine said.

"What?" Diana asked. She had forgotten what she had asked him in the first place.

"The baby," Caine began, "I know that it's not Sam's."

"How do you know?" Diana asked.

"Bug said that he heard Sam call the baby his niece or nephew. Being that I am Sam's only brother, the child has to be mine." Caine smiled wryly.

"It's yours." Diana said in barely more than a whisper.

She watched Caine intently. A huge smile spread across his face. He attempted to hide it, but it was definitely there. This made Diana smile. Caine looked at her then, his piercing green eyes happy for once. He crossed the small room and stretched out his hand towards her.

"What are you doing?" Diana asked.

"May I?" Caine asked gesturing towards her stomach.

"Sure." Diana said.

She was taken aback, Caine never asked permission. Ever. Caine stretched his hand out and touched Diana's stomach. He smiled, kind of crazily. It was a weird expression, one Diana had never seen before. After a moment he drew back his hand and looked up at her.

"So, when are you moving back to town?" Caine asked suddenly.

"Pardon?" Diana was shocked yet again.

"You are moving back to town right?" The bold Caine was gone. In his place was the awkward teenage boy who couldn't really talk to girls.

"No." Diana said firmly.

"Why not?" Caine asked suddenly angry, "This baby is just as much mine as it is yours!"

Diana was at a loss for words. "Yeah, you are right Caine, this kid is half yours. However, I'm not going to throw our baby through a wall or encase his hands in cement. I'm never going to make him eat human flesh, I'm n—"

Caine cut her off. "Do you think I enjoyed doing those things?" Caine said furiously, "I did those things for you!"

"No you didn't," Diana held her ground, "You did those things because you need to be in charge. You are an egotistical jerk Caine! Always have been. I stuck around though because I cared about you. I shouldn't have, I really shouldn't have. You are sick inside Caine, sick. But back then I was only hurting myself. Well, newsflash it isn't just about me anymore."

Diana wasn't sure when her rant had turned into sobs, but it did. She tried to stifle them, but they came in a torrent. Running down her face while Caine stood there motionless.

"Diana, I love you." Caine said.

He sounded earnest, but she didn't believe him. He would say whatever he needed to say in order to get what he wanted. It had worked last time, but Diana was stronger now. She knew better.

"I wish I could believe you Caine," She said, "But I don't. It wouldn't be the first time you lied to me."

Caine was frustrated now. His plan had fallen apart at the seams. "What do I have to do to prove it to you? When will you move back to Perdido Beach?"

Diana thought for a moment. How could he really, truly, honestly prove it to her? Then she remembered. Toto! He had a sort of built in lie detector. If Caine confessed his love for her in front of him, then Toto could tell her if he was lying or not.

"If you say those exact three words in front of Toto and he says that you are not lying, then I will go back with you. If you cannot do this then I will not."

"But –" Caine began but Diana cut him off.

"Now go," She said, "Whenever you are ready come and get me. See you then."

Caine balled his hands into fists. He couldn't fight this. He could have force her to go, use his powers and drag her all the way back to town, but he didn't. Diana was winning this battle at the moment, now all she had to do was wait. Caine really had to do some soul searching if he ever wanted to see his child.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey! Thanks for all the reviews! They made my day! Here is chapter seven.**

**Review and enjoy,**

**-GoneLoverMM**

**Chapter Seven**

**Quinn**

Ever since night had fallen forever in the FAYZ, or as Howard liked to call it "The Blackout", the fish hadn't been biting. It had only been a day or two since then, Quinn wasn't exactly sure which. You kind of lost track of time without the sun or moon to tell you when to go to sleep and when to wake up. It was disorienting to say the least.

Quinn and his crew usually woke up at the crack of dawn, loaded their boats, rowed out to sea, and put their rods and nets in the salty water. They would work through the day, only stopping when the sun was high in the sky for lunch. This was how the gaged time. The sun acted as their clock, and they kind of went off guesses. When the sky was streaked with orange and pink they would row back to shore, and bring their day's spoils to Albert's.

They did this everyday. It was definitely not an easy job, but Quinn loved it. Kids still depended on him, but not in the way they depended on Sam or even Caine. However, there was still a certain amount of pressure. This pressure was more and more for everyday that the fish didn't bite.

The fish also used the sun. This was why they were most hungry early in the morning and in the early evening. It was almost like they had an internal clock that said, "Feed me! Time to eat before it gets too hot!" However, with no sun to heat the top layer of water, the fish were all messed up. They were just as lost as most of the kids. They were feeding at irregular times, and not the same times every day.

Quinn and his crew were at a loss. They didn't know what to do. Eventually the supply of fish that Albert had stored would rot. Kids would go without their only source of protein. They could survive on the limited supply of fruits and vegetables, but for how long? Quinn had to talk to Albert, and soon.

**Sam**

Sam and Astrid walked hand in hand to the dock. They both sat down on the edge and let their feet dangle into the water. They kissed again, but this time Astrid pulled away first. Just like old times, Sam sighed.

"It's not you," Astrid said.

"What, It's me?" Sam said sarcastically.

"No, don't be stupid." Astrid said looking into his eyes, "I have something important to tell you."

Suddenly she became very serious. All of the good-hearted lightness had vanished, leaving in its place the cold, grim expression he had grown used to. Sam's hope disappeared just as quickly as it had come.

"What?" He asked worriedly.

"I went down to that mine shaft. I needed to get Petey back, I needed to see if he was there, and –"

Then mid sentence, Astrid screamed. A blood-curdling scream filled with anguish and pure, raw terror.

"Astrid, Astrid!" Sam called, "What's happening? What's wrong?"

The screaming stopped then, and Astrid looked at him. Sam gasped. Her eyes glowed neon green. He hadn't been wrong the first time, and this only solidified the fact. Then Astrid spoke, only it wasn't her voice. The voice came from her mouth, but it was a horrible, garbled sound. It kind of resembled that of the coyotes, only it was more menacing.

"Bring me the Blood Sharers. The two halves of one whole. The dark and the light. I am in need of them. Then I need the Pure Light. Only the Pure Light can make me whole. Do it or Nemesis dies, along with the rest of your race at Drake's whip hand."

Then Astrid was herself again. She fell sobbing into Sam's shocked arms. Her hair was plastered to her sweaty forehead, and her breath was coming shakily. Sam didn't know what to do, so he held her while she cried. The salty tears soaked Sam's shirt, but he barely noticed. He was still trying to figure out what had been said.

Sam had met the gaiaphage once down in that mineshaft. It had touched his mind. Luckily Sam had been nearly delusional with pain, so that memory wasn't as sharp. He still remembered it though. He could never forget the way it touched his mine. However, it had been unable to leave its' hooks in him like it had in Lana and Caine.

Sam couldn't make sense of what had been said. Who were the two halves of one whole? Who were the dark and the light? What did it all mean? Drake was alive? At moments like this he needed Astrid to be on her game. He didn't need the Astrid that he loved, he needed Astrid the Genius. Once she had stopped sobbing somewhat, Sam spoke.

"Astrid, what does it all mean?" He asked.

Astrid looked up at him through wet eyelashes. "Sam, it wants you. It wants you and Caine. I needs you, but I don't know why."

Astrid was hyperventilating by the time she had finished the sentence.

"Shhh Shhh," Sam soothed, "It will be okay."

Sam absorbed what she had told him. It made sense. Caine was the dark twin and he was the light one. Sam kept asking her questions, trying to gain as much information as he could.

"Is Drake really still alive? Or is that just an empty threat? Do you know?" The sentences all kind of ran together in Sam's haste to find the answers.

"He's there." Astrid said. She was looking off into the distance, her eyes staring out at the dark lake. "He whipped me Sam, he whipped me."

Anger boiled inside of Sam. "I'll kill him, this time I really will."

Astrid sort of nodded. She was obviously reliving that moment. Sam could relate. It was easily the worst experience of his live. The sat in silence before Sam spoke again.

"Who is the Pure Light?" Sam asked Astrid.

"I don't know," Astrid answered honestly, "I don't even have a theory. It said that the Pure Light was someone who had never seen or done any evil. I thought it was talking about Petey, but it said that even he was not pure."

Sam racked his brain for who this person could be. No one in the FAYZ was completely innocent. Every single person had either seen or done horrible things. That's when it hit him. There was only one person who hadn't seen evil. That person hadn't seen anything actually. They weren't even born yet.

"Diana's baby." Sam hadn't realized he said it aloud until Astrid spoke.

"Diana's baby? What?"

She was confused, very confused. Sam hadn't told her the news yet. It was a major secret. Hardly anybody knew obviously. Sam didn't even tell Taylor. Good thing too. If he had the secret would have been out weeks ago. However, Sam had to share the secret with Astrid. It was crucial.

"Diana's pregnant." Sam said flatly.

He looked at Astrid. He could tell that she was shocked.

"Is it Caine's?" She asked.

"Yup," Sam popped the "p".

"Huh." Astrid said, absorbing that. "It makes sense though," She said after a moment, "What's more pure than a newborn?"

"I don't know," Sam answered.

"That's a rhetorical question." Astrid said smiling.

"The baby is already a three bar freak." Sam said, "That's a problem."

"Actually that's a statement." Astrid said, "But I can see why you would think it could be a problem."

Sam had missed her. It seamed strange, but he missed her condescending know-it-allness. That wasn't a word, but Sam didn't care.

"What's the plan, Astrid?" Sam asked her.

"I don't know," She said, "You're the problem solver. That's why you run this place."

Sam laughed without humour. He didn't run this place.

"I have to talk to my brother." Sam said, "He'll plan something. I'll catch the next car into town."

"I don't think that's necessary." Astrid said.

"What?" Sam didn't get it.

"He's here."

"He's here!" Sam nearly shouted.

"Yeah, I stowed away on his car coming in. That's how I got here in the first place."

"Why didn't you think to let me know?" Sam said incredulously.

"I needed you to focus." Astrid said.

"Thanks Astrid," Sam said bitingly, "But next time I think I can decided when I need to focus. I'm not four years old."

"Fine then," Astrid stood up, "Next time a terrifying monster down in some mineshaft has your brother I won't let you know until you are ready."

"Fine then," Sam mimicked, "Don't bother."

Sam stalked off towards Diana's boat. Wherever she was, Caine would be close.

**Caine**

He left Diana's boat furiously. She had gotten him. Caine couldn't stand being beat. Usually he would fight back. Defy and win was kind of his motto. Even if you lose in that moment, you still end up winning in the end. However, this situation was out of control. It's not like he was carrying the baby.

He also couldn't just walk away. This was important to him. His kid was important to him, and so was Diana. He did love her. Deep down he did. However, he needed to be in charge more. Caine didn't know what was wrong with him. Right now him and Diana could be relaxing on that island together. But he had to come and save the day, and he had of course.

Caine had to be honest though, being the hero wasn't the only reason why he had to come back to Perdido Beach. He needed to be close to it. It still touched his mind. The gaiaphage still had its hooks in him. He could control it now, but it still wasn't pleasant. He never told Diana though. He wanted her to know as little as possible about that creature. It wasn't safe.

As Caine was headed back towards his car he slammed into someone.

"Watch it." Caine said.

"Oh good, I found you." It was Sam.

"Why were you looking for me, brother?" Caine said. He was eaten up with curiosity, but he tried to play it cool.

"You remember that thing in the mine?" Sam asked.

Caine's heart rate accelerated. Of course he remembered that thing in the mine. How could he not? "Yeah." He said.

Sam told Caine what Astrid had told him. Caine listened attentively. This was probably the longest time that Sam and Caine had talked without trying to kill each other. What had the world come to?

"What do we do?" Sam asked.

"We need to take out Drake." Caine said without hesitation, "Take him out, and you take out the gaiaphage's only threat. It can't act without a body anyways."

"Yeah, that makes sense." Sam said.

Both brothers sat in silence then. When Caine started to walk back to his car Sam called to him.

"Congratulations by the way." Sam smiled.

"Uh thanks." Caine said, surprised by Sam's sentiment.

This wasn't really happy news. It was kind of a disaster waiting to happen actually. This baby was already doomed. After all, Caine and Diana were the parents. Diana didn't know much about caring for babies, and if she didn't know much he didn't know anything.

"How long do we have?" Caine asked.

"I don't know man, a few weeks maybe? A month." Sam said. "Astrid said that she would know when time runs out."

"Okay," Sam said, "I'll be ready."

"You'd better be." Sam said.

**Diana**

Soon after Caine left, Diana fell into a restless sleep. Nightmares woke her constantly. Some were strange and senseless, others bright and sharp. They all varied, and they were all terrifying. In one dream Diana was blinded by a neon green light. She couldn't see anything at all. Then sharp teeth had formed around the perimeters, and then the rest of the mouth.

_Come to me. I need the Pure Light. _

It said.

Diana woke up suddenly, expelled from her own dream. She was panting and covered in a layer of sweat. She looked around the small cabin. Brianna wasn't back yet, so Diana was alone. A strange green light filled the room, brighter than a Sammy Sun. That's when the sickening realization hit her. The light was emanating from her stomach.


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey! Thanks for all the reviews! They made my day! Here is chapter eight!**

**Review and enjoy,**

**-GoneLoverMM**

**Chapter Eight**

**Caine**

Caine was about to head back to won when he heard the ear-splitting scream. Sam had heard it too. Half the town probably had. Both boys ran at a hard sprint towards the sound. The person was still screaming, making it not difficult to find the source of the sound.

"Oh my god," Caine said aloud, "It's coming from Diana's boat."

The brothers stared at each other, eyes wide. Caine was horror struck. Diana was tough, she didn't just cry over nothing. This was definitely not crying though. These were terror filled screams. They made Caine's skin crawl. It wasn't like Caine wasn't used to screams of fear, he usually caused them, but these were agonizing. These sounds were coming from his girl.

Caine blew the door open, nearly knocking it off its hinges because of his haste to get inside. It was like a scene from a horror movie. Diana was lying on her lumpy cot in the corner. Her roommate, Brianna, was not there. That wasn't the only thing though. Diana had her shirt pulled up, exposing the small bump that was her stomach. However, a neon green light was emanating from that bump. Caine knew that light and what it represented. The Darkness was here.

"Diana!" Caine called rushing to her bedside and grabbed her hand. Sam stood in the doorway.

"I'm getting Lana." He said and then bolted.

Caine had forgotten that Sam was even there. He was only focused on Diana.

"Diana, Diana!" Caine called, his voice getting more and more stressed when she didn't respond.

She threw back her head then and screamed. Caine had to cover his ears because he was so close. The sound choked off suddenly. Diana was sobbing. "Caine," She said through the tears, "Help me, Caine! Help me, please!"

Caine felt useless. He couldn't help her. He had no idea what to do. Sure he could handle a hoard of man-eating bugs with ease, but this… He was lost. "Sam's getting Lana," Caine said trying to soothe her, "Just sit tight."

"It's that thing right," She said, "The Darkness. The gaiaphage."

"I think so." Caine answered honestly.

"What does it want?" Diana asked.

"It wants him. He is the Pure Light." Caine told her. It all made sense. Caine connected the dots with the information Sam had given him.

"What?" Diana nearly screamed, "I don't know if you can tell, but I'm not in the mood for riddles Caine. It feels like my head is going to explode. There are voices in my head. Am I going crazy?" She grew hysterical towards the end.

"Our baby, the Darkness wants it. It needs it. It needs a helpless body that cannot fight back. A baby is perfect, and this one is going to be powerful. What are the voices saying?" Caine tried to remain as calm as possible even though he was falling apart on the inside.

"It's saying that we only have so much time. That the baby isn't normal, it will grow fast. It says that I need to go to it one week from now." She said.

"What if we don't?" Caine asked.

"I think you know the 'or else' Caine." Diana said bitingly with some of her old bravado.

Then the light went out. The cabin was dark again. Diana lay panting.

"How's your head?" Caine asked after a moment.

"Fine actually," Diana said sounding surprised, "No more voices."

"That's good." Caine said relieved.

He didn't really know what to do then. He wanted to be with her, but she didn't want to be with him. Caine had to go back to town. He couldn't stay here anymore. He was about to leave, he had his hand on the door when she called to him.

"You said him." She said.

Caine was confused, "What?"

"When you were talking about the baby, you called it him." He could see the whites of her teeth in the near total darkness.

"Yeah," Caine said embarrassed, "When I picture him I always see a boy."

"Oh." Diana said, "You can leave now."

She turned over onto her side, exhausted. Caine was going to leave, but he wanted to make sure she fell asleep first. Within a few minutes he could hear her gentle snores. He walked over to her bedside and moved her cropped hair off her forehead. He placed a gently kiss on her brow.

"I will get you back." He said before leaving.

**Sam**

A day or two had passed since Diana's incident. Sam had gotten Lana, and she had checked Diana over. Lana said that she could feel its presence. Astrid said it was like what had happened to Little Pete. The babies mind was more susceptible for some reason. No one knew the reason, but at least they had a hunch.

It was still dark. Sam knew the sun wouldn't shine in the FAYZ unless they destroyed the Darkness once and for all. He didn't know how they were going to do it. From what he was able to pick up form Lana, it was impossible. She had tried. However, there had to be a way. Maybe he could burn it…

Kids had grown more and more cynical the longer they sat in dark tents and homes. Sam understood where they were coming from, but he didn't give a damn anymore. Let them be unhappy, Sam thought, it's not like they were helpful when they were somewhat happy. Luckily they were still working. The fear of hunger was stronger than fear of the dark.

Albert had told Sam about the whole fishing issue. Apparently Quinn and his crew could not get the fish to bite. Sam had told Albert to deal with it. Stuff like this was out of his league now. It was almost a relief not having to deal with it. However, it still weighed on his mind. Soon the kids would only be eating vegetables, nasty ones at that. After all, how many cabbages could a kid eat? It became very monotonous, very quickly. However, no one complained. Food was food. You couldn't be to fussy if you wanted to survive in the FAYZ.

Sam had been toying with an idea for a while. What if he were to create one giant Sammy Sun? It could provide light for the small Lake community at least. It would cast a creepy, greenish glow over everything, but at least the kids would be able to see where they are going.

The dark was scary, but Diana's pregnancy, if you could even call it that, was much scarier. Everyday her stomach grew larger. The rate was scary. Only two days ago she had a small bump. Now it looked like she had shoved a smallish birthday balloon under her shirt. Luckily the Darkness had not made another appearance.

Caine commuted back and forth every single day to be with her. He didn't exactly sit by her beside, she had sent him away, but he hung around outside just waiting. Sam was surprised by how much of a trooper Diana was. After all though, this wasn't exactly random. It was her who had gotten pregnant in the first place.

Astrid had made the Lake her permanent home for now. Sam had offered her his own boat, but she had refused. Instead she bunked with Taylor. Sam could imagine that being awkward. The girl's didn't really like each other, but then again, both enjoyed beds over the ground.

Sam was happy that Astrid was back, but he knew it would be difficult as well. They still fought, and Astrid could still be cold and removed, but it was better than it had been. Not perfect, but better. She did return her kisses, but they went to further than that. They still talked normally, but he could tell that she was reserved. She was thinking about something. He could tell that she was distracted. One day he finally asked her.

"What's going on up there?" He said as he stroked her hair.

She smiled at his touch, but then her eyes grew sad. "I was just thinking about Petey."

"Oh," Sam said, "I'm sorry."

Astrid's intelligent blue eyes held his. "We can't hold onto him anymore. We need to surrender him to the Darkness."

Sam was so shocked that he couldn't say anything remotely intelligent. "What?" He almost grunted.

"The Darkness is holding him hostage." Astrid began, "If you, Caine, and Diana go to it, it said that it will release Petey."

"Yeah," Sam said, "We know that, we can handle it."

"But Sam," She cried, "It's not worth it. His death isn't worth how many countless lives will be and have already been lost."

Sam held her close. "Astrid, don't say that. It will be okay."

She wiggled out of his grip. "I have a plan."

"Well let's hear it." Sam was interested in what she had to say.

"I think that if somebody in the FAYZ dies, they end up on the other side of the barrier." Astrid said, "If we can somehow, I don't know, tape a note on him it will get to the other side. The parents will know what is going on!"

"Oh," Sam said, "But how is that possible? We've buried bodies."

Sam wasn't that impressed with the plan. He was actually shocked. This was not an Astrid type plan. It wouldn't work; it was deeply flawed and somewhat scattered. What had happened to the logical, calculating Astrid? Sam was worried about her, very worried.

"I don't know!" Astrid shouted. "I'm just worried. You can't go there! You can't fight it Sam. If you fight it you will die. It will win."

"Astrid," Sam said trying to comfort her, "I have to try. I at least have to try."

**Little Pete**

Little Pete was content for the first time in a long time. It was quite, just the way he liked it. His loud sister had come with her too bright eyes and too loud mouth. She had yelled at it, at him. She had yelled at his master. When she had come, it felt like needles were stabbing Little Pete in the brain. Too bright colours assaulted his eyes, just like too loud noises assaulted his ears.

Finally she had left and he was mostly alone in the darkness. There was still the neon light far below, but it didn't bother Little Pete. At first the Darkness hadn't bothered him, it had left him completely alone. However, eventually it had started searching. It prodded inside his brain, learning. He was teaching it creation. Little Pete didn't want to teach the monster, but he had no choice. He couldn't fight it, so he allowed the searching.

It really wasn't that bad. It felt like rivers of cold, fresh water were running throughout his brain. It felt nice, it was numbing. It dulled everything. However, sometimes Little Pete didn't have the answers. The Darkness would roar then and Pete would scream. He hated when that happened. Sometimes he could make it stop though. He would use his power and silence the noise, just like he had that day in the power plant.

_Please teach_

It would say

_Darkness must learn_

Little Pete never had to answer. The Darkness always knew what he was thinking.

_They are coming soon_

The darkness said

_Soon I will use you and the Pure Light to form one organism. It will be unstoppable. It will be deadly. It will be the gaiaphage. _


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey! Thanks for all the reviews! They made my day! Here is chapter nine! Only two more days till fear comes out! Deep Breaths everybody! Deep Breaths! **

**Review and enjoy,**

**-GoneLoverMM**

**Chapter Nine**

**Caine **

Diana's stomach was huge. It had nearly doubled in size in only five days. Diana had never been a very big girl, and since the coming of the FAYZ she had gotten even smaller. The huge bump looked unnatural and out of place among all of the skin and bones.

Diana usually wasn't very pleasant and her situation didn't really help much. This only made Caine love her more. After all, if he wanted a nice, normal girl he could have found one easily. Diana was different, she had always been. Somehow she had her hooks in him just like the gaiaphage had and still did. Only with Diana, it was different.

He wanted to be with her because he wanted to. He wasn't acting on someone else's wishes there. He truly wanted to be with her and his baby. She didn't always want him there, and so he would leave. However, he would always come back soon. Sam had even been nice enough to let him stay in Perdido Beach for the week. Sam wasn't a bad person, he is actually a really nice person, but that didn't mean that Caine had to like his estranged brother. He just had to put up with him.

Whenever Caine wasn't with Diana, he was with Sam, Edilio, and Edilio's soldiers. They were desperately trying to come up with a plan, but so far nothing was really working. They were running out of time, and Astrid the so-called Genius was of no help at all. She seemed kind of lost. Dekka and Brianna were in on the plan, but they refused to come in the room when Caine was there. Apparently he made them wickedly uncomfortable.

Caine, Sam, Edilio, and three of Edilio's soldiers were still talking strategy when suddenly Sam's eyes glassed over. He had stopped talking mid-sentence, and the rest of the boys stared at him.

"Dude, what's wrong?" Edilio asked worriedly.

Sam looked at him without really seeing. "Do you remember where you hid those things I told you to hide?" Sam asked.

Edilio's eyebrows knit together as he tried to remember. A concerned look crossed his face when he did. "I don't know, Sam." Edilio said.

"What is going on?" Caine asked.

He was both confused and furious at the same time. Confused because he didn't know what they were talking about, and furious because no one was telling him. When neither of the boys responded, he picked up the pen sitting on the table and flung it into the wall just two inches from Edilio's head. It stuck into the wall. All eyes turned to him, now he had their attention.

"I asked what was going on." Caine said.

"We found missiles out in the dessert. Big ones." Sam said finally.

Caine was shocked. Missiles had just been lying around in the dessert somewhere?

"What does it matter though?" Edilio said, "It's not like we can use them without blowing up the entire FAYZ."

"How many missiles were there?" Caine asked, intrigued.

Sam and Edilio exchanged nervous "Should we tell this guy the truth" glances. Sam shrugged and started talking. "Several. Didn't count the exact number."

"If we used one or two," Caine began, "We could just blow up a small area."

The idea started to weave it's way through Caine's head. They could blow it up this time, not just bury it alive. They could take out Drake and then blow up the gaiaphage. Caine doubted that it could survive that. He wondered how it would look as it exploded into even tinier pieces. Maybe it would just incinerate right away. However, there was one problem with the plan.

"How do we set them off though?" Caine asked.

"I don't know…" Sam answered. No wonder kids had gotten annoyed with Sam. "I don't know" is all he ever said.

Caine didn't have much experience with missiles. All he could think of was the cheesy, Saturday morning cartoons. The little cartoon character would connect a stick of dynamite to a box with an infinitely long wire. Then they would press down the leaver, and BANG! Caine didn't think it worked like that in real life.

"We need to ask Computer Jack." Caine said, "He would know."

Caine didn't really want to include the little worm in the plan, but as always Computer Jack was necessary. After all, they didn't keep him around for his super human strength.

"Okay," Sam said. "Brianna!" He called.

She materialized half a second later. She ostentatiously turned her nose away from Caine, refusing to look at him. "What can I do for you?"

"Go get Jack, we need him." Sam directed.

"Got it!" Brianna gave Sam a kind of half salute and zoomed out of the room.

**Astrid **

Astrid tried to stay out of the planning. She had learned in the past that she wasn't that helpful in the end, and being there only added friction between her and Sam. In the end, it wasn't worth it. The six boys were more than capable of coming up with a plan. If they really needed help, she knew that Sam would ask.

No one really seemed to like Astrid anymore, that or everybody was much too busy to talk to her. She spent most of her time wandering around the Lake community. When people saw her, they avoided her like the black plague. It made her uncomfortable to say the least. However, what could she really expect?

Rumors spread quickly in the FAYZ, and by the time the fifth or sixth person had heard them they weren't even true anymore. She tried not to think about it, she tried to be a logical and calculating person, but deep down she was still just the insecure and awkward teenage girl.

Astrid usually stayed somewhere else, but tonight she made her way towards Sam's cabin. She knocked politely on the door. No one was home. He must have still been busy planning, but he was still human. He had to sleep after all, so he would be home soon. Astrid didn't really know what time it was, but she felt tired. It must have been night. It was impossible to tell though because it was always dark in the FAYZ now.

Astrid decided to wait for him, she needed to talk to him. It was completely dark in the cabin, and it was warm and stuffy. The atmosphere made Astrid very sleepy suddenly. She laid down on one of the beds and closed her eyes. Before she knew it she had fallen asleep.

**Sam**

They had finally devised an acceptable plan. It was crazy of course, but then again what wasn't these days? Blowing up a radioactive monster from space with missiles seemed like a perfectly acceptable plan. Wow, how things had changed. Sam was exhausted by the time they had finished. As they were leaving, Sam saw Caine walking towards Diana's boat. She would probably just kick him out, but the kid was definitely persistent. He would not take no for an answer.

Sam rubbed his eyes and yawned loudly. Edilio and Dekka were on watch for the night, so he had the entire boat to himself. It was kind of nice, but otherwise it was lonely. The company of other people, especially ones with machine guns was comforting in a place as crazy as the FAYZ.

Sam stripped off his clothes down to his underwear, kicked off his sneakers, and fell into bed. He rolled over onto his left side, and his body came in contact with something. Sam yelped and shot straight out of bed. What the hell was going on? He held his hands out in front of him, ready to shoot.

"Who or what are you?" Sam called. He felt a bit ridiculous, but he would rather be prepared than dead.

"It's just me." The voice said.

Sam immediately dropped his hands to his side. "Astrid?"

"Yeah." She said. He could see her now that his eyes had adjusted. Her blonde hair was messy and covered most of her face in tangles.

"Why are you sleeping in my bed?" Sam asked. He was very confused.

"I'm like Goldilocks." She said laughing.

Sam was not yet sold. "Why are you here?"

"I needed to talk to you." She said.

Sam was worried now. Whenever Astrid "Had to talk" it meant that she was mad. Sam didn't see this going well. When she didn't receive an answer from Sam she went on.

"How did the planning go?" She asked.

"Fine." Sam said.

There was silence before she interjected. "Are you going to tell me the plan?"

"I thought you didn't want to know anything." Sam said.

"I want to now." She said.

"Uh okay," Sam said. Here mood swings were giving him whiplash. He laughed coldly at his own joke. Not funny. "Jack said that the missiles have to be manually turned on. The person who does that then has thirty seconds or so to get away before –" He pantomimed something blowing up with his hands.

"So you are going to blow it up?" Astrid asked. Her tone was slightly disbelieving, but it didn't hold its usual condescension.

"Yeah." He said relieved that she was going along with the plan.

"Who is going to press the button?" She asked.

Sam didn't answer. This had been the question of the night. Everyone obviously assumed that it would be Brianna, however the gaiaphage would just read her mind and know the plan. It would stop her before she even had a chance to press the button. Brianna was fast, but the Darkness would see her coming. It had the advantage. Sam explained his frustration to Astrid.

"So then get Diana to do it." She stated simply.

Sam stared at her blankly. Had she really just said that? Had Astrid the Genius just suggested that they send a very pregnant girl to do this job? Sam was at a lost for words. "Wait what?" He said stupidly.

"It won't hurt her," Astrid said, "She has something it wants. If she tells it that in return for Little Pete she won't blow it up, it will probably listen."

Sam wasn't too keen on the idea. Too much could go wrong. There was too much at stake. However, the plan did make sense. As Astrid said, the gaiaphage wouldn't kill Diana because it needed the baby that was still inside her. Kill the mother, and you kill her unborn child.

"I'll talk to Caine." Sam said. He doubted that Caine would be down with the plan anyways, so it avoided a pointless fight with Astrid. After all, she was in fact here in his bedroom. He might as well take advantage of that fact. She was looking away, so he leaned in and kissed her on the mouth. She kissed him back at first, only to pull away with her usual rebuke.

"Sam," She said, "Just because I am here alone in your bedroom doesn't mean –"

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Sam said, "But I can't help trying." He smiled in the darkness.

"I know, maybe one day." She kissed him one last time. Just a quick one, but it left him wanting more just like it always did.

"Goodnight Astrid." Sam called.

"Bye Sam, sleep well." She said closing the door behind her.

As if Sam could fall asleep now…


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey! Thanks for all the reviews! They made my day! Here is chapter ten. WARNING: Some brief language… It is rated T after all. **

**Review and enjoy,**

**-GoneLoverMM**

**Chapter Ten**

**Diana**

The day had finally come. Diana didn't know how much longer she could take of this. Her stomach was like a small mountain and she was very uncomfortable. She wasn't very happy with their plan, but she knew it would work. She didn't want to have to walk to the gaiaphage and set off the missile, but the logic was sound.

A group of them set out early that morning. It was dark, but then again it always was. They all loaded into a large minivan. Edilio drove, and Diana was courteously given shotgun. Caine, Lana, Brianna, Dekka, Astrid and three of Edilio's soldiers crammed into the back. Diana could see Caine's face in the mirror, and he didn't look pleased about being in the back with a million other people. She smiled to herself. Of course he wasn't.

Edilio drove fairly quickly, so they made it there in record time. Diana could feel its' presence the closer they got, everybody could. Lana's face had grown hard and grim and everybody else looked kind of queasy. They couldn't get any closer with the car, so they would have to go on foot for a couple hundred feet.

It wasn't that far for the average person, but it seemed like a marathon for Diana. When they were halfway there, Caine used his power and sort of scooped her up. If it had been any other day, she would have complained and demanded that he put her down. She hated it when he did things like this because it made her seem weak. However, she let it slide… just this once.

The walk was smooth after that. They were standing in the mouth of the cave now, just waiting fro someone to do something.

"We're here." Sam said flatly.

"No shit, Sherlock." Diana said. Everyone laughed awkwardly. No one was really in a laughing mood after all.

Sam continued, ignoring Diana's comment. "Are you ready?" He asked her.

She bobbed her head, not fully trusting her voice.

"Okay," Sam said, "We'll give everybody a moment to get ready."

Diana knew they didn't really have to prepare. Sam was just giving her and Caine some time alone. The two of them sort of wandered off from the group out of hearing range. They stood there in silence for a few moments.

"I really do love you, you know." Caine said looking down at his feet.

"Oh." Diana said, shocked.

"You can ask Toto if you want," Caine said, "I know he'll say yes. I'm sure this time, I really am."

He looked up at her then. There it was! She saw something there in his eyes. It was something other than fury or fear. It was a genuine human emotion. That or he was a damn good actor. However, he didn't really need anything from her anymore. After all, she was already pregnant. When Diana didn't respond right away, Caine started biting his thumb. It was a nervous habit that Diana had always secretly adored even though she told him that she hated it.

"I know." Diana said simply.

Caine still had his thumb in his mouth, not fully believing her. "Really?" He said in disbelief.

"Yes," Diana said, "Diana Ladris loves Caine Soren, and he loves her back."

Caine smiled with all of his old charm and Diana smiled back. Caine was still chewing on his thumbnail. Apparently this whole conversation had made him a nervous wreck.

"Take your thumb out of your mouth." Diana said.

"Why?" Caine said with his usual amount of defensiveness. He hated being told what to do, but he would usually take orders from her.

"Because I can't kiss you if you have your thumb in your mouth."

**Sam**

The couple returned a few minutes later. Both were smiling private smiles. Sam didn't even want to know what had happened.

"Alright," Sam said, "See you in a few, Diana."

"Okay." She said.

"Here's the missile," Jack said handing it to her, "All you have to do is flip this switch and run like hell."

Diana smiled and ruffled the boy's hair. "And that is why they call you Computer Jack."

Computer Jack turned away kind of flustered and red cheeked. Brianna was frowning.

"If anything seems off," Caine began, "Come right out."

"Yes, yes, of course." Diana said as she gave him one last kiss on the lips. Sam was glad they kept it PG. His stomach was already kind of queasy.

Diana lowered herself into the mouth of the cave and disappeared.

**Diana**

It was several degrees cooler inside the cave. Diana felt the chill go all the way to her bones. Her baby kicked inside of her.

"It's okay baby," She cooed, "This will be all over soon."

Diana could see the faint green glow up ahead. It grew stronger the closer she got. She could feel its presence there. Reaching through her mind. Riffling through her most personal thoughts. She felt violated.

_You have brought the Pure Light_

It said over and over until it became a shrieking frenzy. Diana tried to cover her ears, but that didn't help. The sound was coming from inside her mind. Diana could see it now, the gaiaphage. Its presence was almost too strong for her to bear. She could barely stay standing and breathing deeply was a struggle.

_Place your hand against me, child_

The Darkness commanded. Diana felt it pulling her towards it, she wanted to give in a touch it, but she remembered that she had a purpose her today. No. She thought strongly. I am Diana Ladris and this is my baby. It does not belong to you. She remembered the missile in her hand. She had been trying not to think about it because she didn't want to tip it off.

_Drake _

The Darkness called and Diana froze. She would never make it out now. Even when she wasn't pregnant Drake was faster than her. Even if she set the missile off, she wouldn't make it out of here. They hadn't thought of this scenario in the plan!

Drake was there in a moment. She was trying to hide the shaking. She couldn't appear weak. She felt the edge of his tentacle caress her cheek. She had to swallow down the bile that rose from her stomach.

"Well, well, well," Drake said, "I see Caine finally knocked you up."

Diana didn't respond. There was nothing she could say. You could kill the immortal. That's when she remembered that Drake only inhabited the body for half the time. The other half of the time Brittney lived inside of it. All she had to do was stall. Eventually Drake, the menacing and sick-minded boy, would turn into Brittney, the religious pimply-faced girl.

"So Drake," Diana said, "Does it keep you on a leash? You know, your Master."

She felt the edge of his whip against her face, lightly, a warning. It didn't actually draw blood. After all, he couldn't kill her because his Master had forbidden him. He didn't answer, so Diana continued.

"Sorry, did I offend you? Is the thing a he or an it? You tell me." Diana said.

She could feel Drake's heavy, frustrated breathing on her neck. Time for the grand finale.

"Hey Drake," She said, "Do you think the gaiaphage knows that its' precious little follower peed himself after Sam burned off his arm?"

"Why you –" He began.

Diana closed her eyes, anticipating the stinging lash from the whip, but it never came. She opened her eyes and there stood Brittney. Diana wanted to cry with relief. Her plan had worked! All she had to do now was find that switch…

It was dark inside the cave, pitch black. The only light emanated from the gaiaphage itself, but she didn't want to get any closer. She fumbled around in the dark for a few seconds too long.

_No _

The Darkness commanded

_You will not do that_

"You can't tell me what to do," Diana said aloud, "Even Caine doesn't tell me what to do."

She was trying to buy more time. There it was! She felt the plastic switch under her finger. However, the gaiaphage knew too. Diana became immobilized with pain. She fell shrieking to the ground. She writhed on the floor of the cave in agony. Her head felt like it was splintering apart.

_No, I must have the Pure Light_

The gaiaphage said. Diana closed her eyes and cried. The pain in her head was horrific, but then a pain in her stomach joined it. This made even simple thoughts unmanageable. Diana forced herself to open her eyes and look, even though she didn't want to.

She looked down at her stomach and shrieked. Billions of tiny green crystals covered her stomach, each of them moving quickly and efficiently. It felt like she was being stabbed by billions of razor sharp needles. She screamed her loudest.

"Caine!" She called. "Help me! Please help me!" She cried into the darkness. She didn't know if he could hear her, but she was desperate.

The crystals, which kind of resembled insects, were chewing away at her stomach. They were getting this baby out one way or the other, and Diana was going to die.

"Caine…" She called, but weaker this time.

The edges of her vision were fading, leaving behind darkness. Her heart was still beating, but she was losing herself.

"Ca—"

She said not even able to get the whole word out. She felt her lids grow heavy and her eyes started to close. The last thing she was Caine's face. She heard one clear, piercing cry, and then her world went black.


End file.
